Cornflakes
by InnocentFighter
Summary: "Who wouldn't be angry? You ate all of my cereal and faked your death for three years, yoi!" Warnings inside!


**A/N I meant this to be crack, and then it turned serious and a little out of character. This proves my point I can't write comedy. Anyway, no one stopped me so this happened. Its from this list of prompts. I told you all you should stop me. Its a gang au set in the modern age! I don't know why I'm so bitter about it, but I am. I just wanted to write the next chapter of blind!Ace but noooo, I'm gonna blame Taylor Swift because i was listening to her when this was spawned.**

 **Warnings: Depression, suicide mention, guns, violence, death mention**

* * *

The battle had gone south for them since the moment that it began. A previously unknown alarm had been tripped alerting the entire Blackbeard gang, and their higher ups. The Whitebeard gang didn't think that it was meant to be easy, it was Blackbeard after all, but Marco like everyone else thought that the rival gang leader would turn tail when he saw that they had Pops with them. The second-in-command grit his teeth as a bullet missed him by millimeters, the logical thing to do at the moment would be to retreat, cut their losses, but that wasn't the Whitebeard way. It helped that Blackbeard had taken one of their commanders and Marco's lover. He'd rot in hell before he left Ace in this position.

At the end of the hall he could see the door his boyfriend was supposedly behind, thanks to Haruta's intel.

"Marco!" The commander winced at the lack of a codename. "Come on! Garp and Sengoku are on their way!"

He swore, Thatch was panicking which meant the agents weren't that far away.

"I'm almost there, buy me some time, yoi!"

"Trying to! You have five minutes before we start retreating."

Marco shot a look and Izou and Jozu, they looked worried still they nodded for him to go on. With their permission he bolted for the door. Behind him he could make out the other two commander's footsteps.

With a strong kick, Marco knocked the door off its hinges, the door banged open startling the room's occupants. The commander took a few seconds to survey the room, and what he saw made his blood boil.

Ace was strapped in a chair, rope around his torso and legs and his arms chained behind him. He was covered in bruises and cuts. Blackbeard, the bastard, held the gun pointed straight at the younger commander's head.

"If you know what's good for you, drop the gun, yoi." Marco snarled.

Ace's eyes widened as he realized who had entered the room, and tears started to fall from them. The older commander wondered why his younger lover was crying, was it relief? He shook his head, for the moment the other was safe, they just needed to get Blackbeard away from him.

"2 minutes." Thatch's voice interrupted.

"Phoenix, do you really think you can kill me in two minutes?" Blackbeard laughed.

"I can and will." Marco replied calmly.

Next to him Jozu and Izou were ready to run over to Ace the moment that the fight started.

"You're risking a lot for just an arsonist." Blackbeard cocked the gun back.

Marco nearly rolled his eyes, the rival gang leader was so into theatrics that he was using an old musketoon, he seriously wondered where the hell that weapon came from, but he couldn't as the muzzle of the gun was drawing closer to Ace's skull.

The commander took a deep breath, and prayed that he was able to surprise the other enough he could cause the shot to miss. He jumped into action running across the small space separating him from Blackbeard.

Marco swung out with his leg, using one foot to slow himself a give a good pivot point. He wasn't disappointed when his foot connected solidly with Blackbeard's jaw. He wasn't fast enough to stop the gun from firing, and he couldn't look to see if it had hit anyone, because looking away now would be the end of him.

Blackbeard recovered one hand on the bruise starting to form, and he aimed the gun at Marco. The commander moved forward and grabbed the extended arm, twisted it and pulled. He felt the pop of the shoulder more than heard it.

Blackbeard shouted in pain, just as Izou let out a cry of victory.

"Status?" Thatch's voice came through once more, rising in pitch.

"He's free, we have him, yoi." Maro answered.

"Good, run, the agents are here!"

"Shit. We have to move!" He yelled at his fellow commanders.

They all nodded.

"Ace, can you run?" Jozu asked.

"Yeah." The younger commander nodded.

With that Marco took one more sweeping gaze to make sure there were no injuries Ace was hiding, once he was satisfied he ran out of the door. From their countless briefings he knew the shortest way to the courtyard; the place that was furthest from the front door, but it left them open as the made the mad dash to the back fence.

Thankfully he had confidence in his fellow commander's athletic skill.

Once in the hallway they picked up the pace as they heard the codes that were known only to the police. Marco looked behind him to see how his comrades were holding up, only to see Ace was trailing in the back looking behind them.

He swore, carrying Ace meant losing valuable time, and he couldn't risk it.

"Come on Ace, we'll be fine, yoi."

Ace turned his head back around a looked Marco in the eyes. Something in that look unsettled the commander, but he couldn't figure out why. They were running out of time anyway.

Finally they reached the courtyard. In the distance he could see the makeshift command center they had made and how quickly it was being picked up.

It was at least a 300 meter run out in the open to the getaway vehicles. He sighed, they needed to go now.

"Whatever you do, don't stop. Keep running!" He ordered and then took off.

Marco was about halfway across the distance when he heard the courtyard door burst open, and gun fire as well as someone radioing in.

He increased his speed. While he wasn't' a fan of running away, this time the needed to, just so their family would remain intact. Despite his age, the jump to the top of the fence and over was easy. He grabbed the edge and slowed his collision with the wall, he needed to make sure everyone got over safely.

Whatever the reason was, this time he was the first one to the point, it should've been Ace who was younger or Izou who was faster, so he had to figure out what exactly was happening. As he peered over the fence, he bit his tongue in an effort to stop the swear from leaving his mouth, they were still hidden from the police and didn't want to blow it yet.

Izou was facing backwards, gun firing towards the cops as he advanced forward, Marco could tell that the shots weren't as accurate as usual, but there were still agents crumpling to the ground after Izou fired. Jozu would be the next over the fence, since Izou's speed was suffering due to how he was running, and Ace was running as fast as his injured body could handle.

"Izou stop shooting and just run!"

Marco winced at the loudness in his ear, he was near enough to Thatch that he could hear the man yelling and the use of the mics made that horrible screeching sound. He took the piece out of his ear before it was further damaged.

It seemed as though Izou took Thatch's words to heart and slid his gun back into its holster at his hips. The man quickly overtook Jozu and reached the fence in a few more seconds, the other commander close behind him.

They both cleared the fence easily, nearly doubling over as they hit the ground below. Marco could hear their heaving breaths, and he knew that he was no better, but he couldn't move from his spot, Ace was still over the fence.

He saw it before he fully comprehended what he was seeing. All of the sudden, from the front of the house, Garp of all people was there, holding a gun, aimed towards Ace. Marco's brain kicked into action, and adrenaline surged through him.

"Ace! Watch out!" He hadn't yelled that loud in years.

Ace looked up towards his voice, but instead of confusion or concern, there was just resignation, acceptance.

He couldn't understand it. Those two emotions didn't look right on his lover's face. The gun fired and Marco lost the ability to do anything but stare as Ace fell on the ground face first.

A few seconds later, despite the logical part of his mind telling him Ace was gone the bullet hit him in the center of the chest, he was trying to climb over the fence.

"Ace!"

Izou was the first to recover, he guessed as the slim man was wrapping his arms around his waist. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know what happened, his reaction told everyone.

"We have to go!" Thatch came running from the command vehicle.

Out of the corner of his blurry eyes, was he crying, he could see Thatch stop.

"What-"

"I can only assume Ace was hit!" Izou yelled out, somehow being the only one able to keep everyone moving. "Thatch, help me get him in the van! Jozu, confirm it!"

Marco felt himself being manhandled and he struggled wanting to get back to Ace's side, he needed to be there. But while he managed to get a blow to either Izou's or Thatch's face, he couldn't fight off both commanders without risking serious injury to either of them. In his grief he very easily could, but it was only the fact he'd disappointment Pops with his action that caused him to calm down and allow himself to be strapped into the van.

Jozu came in a few seconds later, and Marco vaguely noted that the larger man had several bleeding injuries, he close the door behind him.

"Well?" Izou snapped.

"They had him covered. We lost him." Jozu quietly replied.

Marco then broke down, not the screaming angry denial he had when he first saw it, but the quiet choking sobbing acceptance. He was in no condition to give orders, but he still had to act like the second-in-command.

He took several deep breaths, trying to get to the point where he could talk, but he still couldn't raise his voice up beyond a whisper."Relay the information back to headquarters and everyone here. Tell them the mission was a failure and that we lost a family member, yoi."

Izou shot him a concerned look, and there might've been pity in the gaze but Marco was now too numb to even notice.

* * *

Marco shot up in bed, tears and sweat making his face sticky. He groaned, and checked the clock.

"Four in the morning, wonderful, yoi." He muttered.

There would be no more sleep for him, he could never sleep after reliving that memory. Even though it was three years old, it was as vivid as it happened yesterday. He shook his head, a shower and breakfast, that's what he would need.

Still his mind wanted to keep replaying several scenes that had happened after _that_ night. Him snapping at Thatch, saying it was his fault. The funeral. Pops taking him off of missions for awhile until he was able to recover because he was 'high risk.'

He hadn't gone into the field for thirty-four months. At this point he doubted he ever would, he couldn't do missions if he was unable to think about how easy it would be to get shot and die and stop this life without his lover next to him; he knew he wouldn't be able to hold a gun so even if he didn't want to die he probably would because he couldn't defend himself.

He shook his head. "Hot shower."

Carefully he walked through the hallway, glad that he had moved out of Whitebeard's house for once. Though he done it for Ace, so that when the other returned from his long term mission, he thought it would be a nice surprise. He walked quicker to the shower.

Once there he turned it on, but decided that he'd spend the first half of it in freezing cold water.

An hour later he stepped out of the shower, slightly more refreshed than he had been. He looked into the mirror and scowled at the dark circles under his eyes, Izou wasn't going to be happy. He should've taken the sleeping pills like the doctor has prescribed. He splashed his face and then toweled off the rest of his body.

"Next, pants, then breakfast, yoi." He muttered to himself.

Marco put on the first pair of pants that he found and headed downstairs.

As he rounded corner he frowned at the light filtering in from his kitchen. _Did I forget to turn the light off?_

He slid into a defensive stance, aware that it could be an enemy come to finish him off. Truthfully he wondered why he bothered with getting ready to defend himself. It was better if he ended up dead because of this. The others wouldn't know, they would just think that it was a robbery gone wrong, well he supposed there were a few that would know. But they off all people should know how much he was suffering.

Ace was his everything. His heart and soul. A best friend and lover. An entire world, his entire world. All of that was taken from him in a second. He'd never see the way his nose and eyes crinkled when he smiled, or see the peaceful expression as he slept, or see all of the small freckles he had that only appeared in the summer sunlight. He'd-

He'd apparently see Ace in all of his glory sitting on the kitchen island eating a bowl of cornflakes.

Marco blinked. "Great, now I'm hallucinating."

The not-Ace swallowed before talking. "No you're not. I'm here."

"You're dead, yoi."

"Someone should probably have told me that before I showed up here." Ace replied twirling the spoon.

"Just go away."

"Can I explain?"

The older commander paused. He was officially crazy, so what harm could come from entertaining himself. Beside he'd be lying if he said that he wasn't enjoying hearing and seeing his lover in such a domestic way. Especially since he had relived that night again.

"Fine."

Ace quickly finished off the milk in the bowl and set it on the counter next to him before jumping off. "Long story short, I had my death faked."

The older man took a few seconds to comprehend what he heard. If that was the case, doesn't that mean that Ace was really in front of him? But wasn't that what hallucinations wanted you to think?

"Listen, you won't believe me, so go back to bed, I'll be here in the morning, with proof that I'm real.

Marco blinked again, it sounded reasonable, and the not-Ace was right. He didn't believe him. But what kind of proof could the other show that he wasn't a hallucination.

Ace lead him back to bed, and could hallucinations really be tangible and warm like this? His memory had started to fade about Ace, all of the small details, how his arms felt and the heat he gave off. Even how his hair bounced with each step he took. Surely if he couldn't remember it he couldn't hallucinate it.

He laid back in bed and Ace sat next to him, and he forced himself to fall asleep. With any luck this was just a dream, and he was just going to be late and Thatch would yell at him until he said he had that nightmare again.

The next morning when Marco awoke, last night was far from his mind, convinced now that it was a dream. There was no sign of Ace anywhere in his room, and the other had promised that'd he be there in the morning.

Blinking caught his eye and he turned to see the green message light from his phone. He grabbed it and flipped it open seeing that Ace's two younger brothers had each sent him a message.

He read Luffy's first.

 _Ace said you didn't think he's real. Which is weird because he is. I guess its because you thought he was dead? He's not!_

Marco shook his head, he didn't get Luffy sometimes, he made sure he didn't send the younger any strange messages to get that response. He didn't think so, the last time he had texted him, was telling him that Ace was dead.

Sabo's message was next.

 _Mr. Marco, I know that it may seem hard to understand at the moment, and with your current mindset, but Ace is most assuredly alive._

 _P.s You should stop him before he empties out your cabinets. He's an anxious eater._

Marco knew that last fact very well, but he frowned. Why had both of Ace's brothers texted him similar things. Had what happened last night actually been real?

With speed he didn't know he possessed, he ran down towards the kitchen. Sliding on the wooden floor in his haste to stop at the opening.

Once more Ace was in his kitchen, holding a bowl and eating cereal from it.  
"Sleep well?"

"You're not dead, yoi." Marco whispered.

"I told you that last night." Ace shrugged.

"You're not dead." Marco repeated.

"Marco, are you okay?"

"What, how, why?"

Ace set his bowl down concern filling his eyes. "Marco I am so sorry, please know this."

Marco could only nodded.

"As I said last night, I faked my death, or rather had it faked."

"Why, yoi?"

"I'm getting there." Ace smiled softly. "It was the only way to get Blackbeard away from the family. He was planning something big so I talked to gramps, and he agreed to help me out. The only condition was that I had to 'stay dead' for a few years."

"You, you did that for the family?"

"Of course." Ace replied proudly.

He wasn't sure what to say. It wasn't a logical excuse and the younger commander was sure to get an earful from everyone once they returned. Ace would've never agreed to work with agents, unless it was something like this.

"Hey, you turkey, you're thinking too much."

Marco frowned at the nickname. That was one thing he hadn't missed very much in these past three years. He was having trouble taking all of this in, so instead he moved to the box of cereal and took Ace's bowl and attempted to pour some into said bowl. All he got were crumbs.

"You ate all of my cereal, yoi?"

"Anxious eater. And coming back from the dead and telling your lover that you're not dead is very anxiety inducing."

He had a point, but Marco was starting to feel the shock wear off now that he was sure that this was actually Ace standing in front of him. From the texts and Ace's words he had his proof, not to mention there were several new scars on Ace's body, two of them being bulletholes, one was shallow and in the center of his chest and the other one was up on his collar bone. Marco set the bowl down and felt his eyebrow twitch.

Ace apparently noticed it and swallowed loudly. "You're angry?"

"Who wouldn't be angry? You ate all of my cereal and faked your death for three years, yoi!" Marco snapped.

Ace smiled sheepishly. "Wait, are you mad about the cereal or me faking my death?"

"Both! Now come here."

Ace blinked but walked hesitantly forward. Once he was in arm's reach Marco grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug. Almost sobbing his joy into the younger male's shoulder. Ace brought his arms to wrap around his torso and squeezed tightly.

"I'm so sorry for what I've put you through."

"I won't forgive you for this for a long time, yoi."

"I didn't think you would, but I had to, it was the only way to save the family and Luffy."

Marco nuzzled into Ace's shoulder. "It hurt."

"I'm sorry, it hurt me to, but I don't think it compares to what you went through." Ace whispered rubbing Marco's back.

"Everyone is going to be so happy to see you."

"If they don't hate me."

"They won't. They've missed you so much."

Ace tensed but then relaxed. "Are we going to see them today?"

"Yeah, they'd kill me if I kept this a secret, yoi."

Ace pulled back and grinned. "I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"Also," Ace's grin widened further. "I'm home."

"Welcome home."

* * *

 ***Shrugs* I hope you enjoyed! Leave your thoughts below! Later! ~IF**


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